Reinstalling Windows XP Without Drive Format

Objective: To reinstall Windows XP in order to obtain a fresh install/registry, but without possibly deleting data stored on the drive by the customer. This document assumes that Windows XP is presently installed in the standard WINDOWS directory. 1. Boot the computer from the Windows XP CDROM. 2. Wait for Device Drivers to Load. 3. Hit Enter to Setup Windows. 4. Hit the F8 key to Agree. 5. Hit ESC to Don't Repair. 6. Select the C Partition with the arrow keys and hit Enter. 7. Hit C to Continue Setup. 8. Hit Enter to Leave The Current File System Intact. 9. Hit ESC for Different Folder. 10. Backspace over WINDOWS and replace this with WINNT and hit Enter. 11. Wait for Setup Files to be copied to hard drive. 12. The computer now reboots and begins installation. 13. Follow the prompts as normal in order to finish installation. 14. The computer reboots. 15. Follow the prompts as normal. 16. Once the installation has completed, double click on C Drive. 17. Click on View Contents of Drive. 18. Go to Tools : Folder Options. 19. Click on the View tab. 20. Click on Show Hidden Files and Folders. 21. Uncheck Hide Protected Operating System Files. 22. Uncheck Hide Extensions for Known File Types. 23. Click OK. 24. Double-click the BOOT.INI file. 25. Delete the ENTIRE line of text beginning with multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)Windows.... This is the original WINDOWS directory boot line. 26. Save the file and exit. 27. You now have the original WINDOWS directory intact on the hard drive which you can delete. Or you can leave it there temporarily until you are ready to delete it. 28. My Documents, etc. can of course be copied from C:Documents and Settings to the new My Documents location under the new Profile Directory. This information collected by smartnetadmin.com